bobert24

Sorry if this is a repost - I searched, and went back 5 pages in the forum, and couldn't find anything. Feel free to merge the thread if needed.

I'm trying to book some domestic flights in Peru using either AA miles or BA Avios. My dates are now about a month out. I've been watching the availability on BA's website, and it seems to come and go very randomly. Sometimes it shows some flights available, sometimes it shows others. I unfortunately had to wait to book my flights until now, because the itinerary for the trip wasn't confirmed earlier. And, of course, two of the flights that I was counting on are now no longer showing as bookable with AA/BA miles.

I guess my question is twofold:
1. It seems like LAN's award space for partners is pretty random. Does LAN ever open any additional space on their domestic flights as the departure date gets closer and there are seats that look like they're not going to sell? I actually called AA reservations to make sure they couldn't see space that wasn't visible to me, and the CSR informed me that both flights I want are virtually empty, but just not bookable as an award.

2. I'm guessing that the answer to #1 may be yes, based on the very random availability pattern I've seen so far. If so, does anyone have any clue when they release that space? Would it be early every morning, like a lot of airlines? Tuesdays at 2 PM? During the peak of every 3rd full moon?

bingocallerb22

Part answer: LAN does open up reward space at T-48ish. But your Q was looking for before that, right?

bobert24

Yeah, I'd really, really prefer to not wait that late. At T-48, I'd be leaving for an international trip without having confirmation that I'd actually be able to get to most of the activities I had planned. I'm never a big fan of that.

So before T-48, is there any pattern to when space might be opened up? Or do they just plain not open any more until that time?

pearsm01

I 'frequently' book EZE -LIM on LAN using BA miles but availability seems almost random. I found a flight a few days before Christmas but nothing in January in any cabin. Another problem I have encountered, and I have spoken to BA who don't have an answer, is flights can appear available on the BA website and you can book it all the way through to accepting your credit card. It then says the booking was unsuccessful. This has happened a number of times to me (only ever booking LAN flights through BA) and when I call BA they then tell me they see the flights but can't book them either.

fedechat

LAN release their seat 330 days in advance on International routes. On domestic it depends, sometimes 330 days in advance, sometimes 10 months, you need to check on LAN (Lanpass account is required) and look for the lowest award level. On long haul or international routes, the award for partners will be available for 1 to 3 days, after that time, you have to check every single day and sometimes twice a day.

bobert24

You were right - I guess you do have to check more than once a day. I'd been checking every day for over 2 weeks for 3 flight segments - CUZ-LIM, LIM-JUL, & JUL-LIM (the first two just being the two legs of a CUZ-JUL itinerary). I looked this morning, and amazingly enough, there were 3 seats on the CUZ-LIM flight. I booked 2 of them immediately (via ba.com), then checked the other flights to see if anything had opened up. No such luck.

A few minutes ago, I happened to check again. What do you know, 2 seats were available on LIM-JUL. I grabbed those immediately, too. They definitely were not available this morning.

Thankfully, we won't have any checked bags, so having 2 PNRs for the trip CUZ-LIM-JUL shouldn't cause any problems, but it's kind of weird booking the legs individually like that. Does anyone know of any reason I should call BA and/or LAN and try to get them to combine the itineraries into one?

I'll definitely be checking on availabilty on the JUL-LIM leg over the next couple days. If it pops up, we may have found (something of) a pattern as to when award space is released.

CFFrost

Is the availability this sporadic on international segments, too? I am trying to book, with BA Avios, LAX-LIM leaving end of July with a mid August return and could not find any flights within a ~2 week timeframe. I started clicking around other options to try to determine if this was an issue with BA's site or if it was an accurate depiction of availability. When I searched MIA-LIM I was able to find availability, but I was not able to click passed the initial search results (there was just an error message in the price box). What gives? Any words of wisdom?

SanDiego1K

My experience is with booking flights on the day they are loaded and available to BA (or AS). I want to say it is precisely 330 days ahead. I booked award seats using BA Avios for travel in late 2016/early 2017. On Thurs, Feb 12, LAN opened up award seats for both BA and AS for Jan 9. I could see availability move day by day as the calendar moved. LAN consistently released 7 coach seats and 4 biz seats. Business class seats generally were only available for 24 hours, 36 at most. It appeared as though LAN then yanked them whether or not they were booked. I hope for your sake that LAN releases seats for several months out as I did not see that.

fedechat

Why CUZ-LIM-JUL and not CUZ-JUL (direct flight, once a day)?. For JUL-LIM keep check every single day, they may release more seats a week before or at OLCI timeframe.

Yes, as I said it many times (in other threads), LAN release their seats 330 days ahead, but only for 24 hours on specific routes like IPC-PPT-IPC, and others like MIA-SCL, SCL-LIM are usually available for 36 hours or even more. They do this only for One World partners, but if you check their website, they will still available, probably because their own program does not allow oneway awards.

Last year (Feb~Apr 2014), I have a big problem with my itinerary with some changes that I had to do and I was no allowed, after complaining about this (LA awards only available for 24hs and no 5 days hold on AA was allowed), the AA agent contacted the OW department (AA specific department), then they magically open all SCL-MIA seats for a whole week, I was able to select the flight that I was looking for, but they forgot to close those open awards seats, AFAIR that week was available for more than 20 days (J and Y seats).

Anther route that is hard to get (impossible) is MIA-EZE-MIA, is the only route with 4M flight number, even is available on LA, AA will not see it, even with a long-sell. In the past, QF was the only tool that was able to show 4M (LAN Argentina) flights, but after they updated their search engine, no more.

CFFrost

Thanks to both of you - look like it's back to the drawing board. I'll keep checking LAN and hope for some luck, but otherwise I'll use my United miles, likely with some obscure connections.

bobert24

I was waiting for that question. I'd have preferred CUZ-JUL direct, but we just couldn't make it work with our schedule. The direct flight is in the middle of the day (~11:25 AM, if I remember correctly), but going through LIM allows us to leave at 4 instead.

Thanks for the tips - I'll definitely keep checking. I figured one week out would be my last best chance to get an award seat, vs paying cash. I just can't bring myself to not book that flight until I'm already in country, which is what I'd be doing if I waited for OLCI.

bobert24

FWIW, the two flights that magically opened up did so at 20 days out. I was hoping the pattern would continue with my other flight, but no such luck.

CFFrost

Thanks.
I'll probably book something on United and keep on eye on the other options, and look to make changes as needed.

grandgourmand

I've been watching SCL-JFK like a hawk. I'm looking to use Avios points before they devalue for a flight in late Feb 2016. the pattern is 330 and 329 days out it seems. At 330 days out I see 7 Y and 7 J every single day. 329 varies a bit, but is roughly the same. Then it rolls forward each day. Not much of a window, but it's nice and predictable.

My only risk is getting stuck with these Avios points. I'm booking 2 J seats. Has anyone had problems booking LAN flights using Avios? I read up there that CFFrost was having difficulties when the booking time actually arrived. Has me alittle worried.

SanDiego1K

It worked like a charm for me using Avios on LAX-EZE-LAX. I hope it does for you as well.